The rolling was still prevalent last night when I went to sleep, but sometime during the night it has died down, as has the wind. Right now it is calm in the anchorage as my work week has begun. I’d postponed my return flight because the journey will take several days and this week I’m supposed to test new software. But I’ve just been informed that my tests will have to wait until next week. That’s unsettling as I can’t book my flights if there is time-constrained work for me to do.
Morning
The waves and rollers are a thing of the past. The waves on the beach are just a handsbreadth high now; yesterday they rolled all the way up the beach. There’s no wind and that help remind me that I’m close to the equator (720NM) and solidly in the tropics. That means high humidity, frequent rainfall and lots of heat. It normally doesn’t take much breeze on the boat to make it comfortable, though.
I’ve found that I can get 3 uses out of my paper coffee filters. But I’ve only got 4 left and the stores ashore didn’t carry filters of any kind. At least I’ve got a backup Aeropress (with small filters) and a French Press to keep my caffeine levels up to the required minimum amount.
The cooling trade winds also keep the flying things at bay. Last night I was just drifting off to sleep when something landed on my face. I brushed it off, jumped out of bed and turned on the light. It wasn’t a cockroach, as I’d feared, but a big grasshopper that had somehow made it onto Zanshin. Right now, with no wind, I’ve got some small flies buzzing about. When I finish work it is time to go around the boat and use some of my Permethrin spray to prevent any creepy, crawly, for flying insects to find a new home.
Noon
I’ve taken my lunch break to search for a way back to Europe. Nothing is direct or simple, or cheap. There’s a small airport here, but it only services Grenada and Union Island; not Barbados (where I could catch a flight to the U.K.). So I either take a ferry or a flight to Grenada and start the big journey from GND. Now that the work week has begun, I have a schedule that I need to adhere to.
I’d need to leave a day earlier to make sure that I can make the departure times in GND. So far my best option seems to be to fly to Gatwick, then take a flight to Germany, then a long train ride. But the schedules aren’t good from Gatwick, I’d arrive at 09:00 and would depart until 18:30. There’s a LHR flight, but it is much more expensive. Or I could fly via the USA and tack on another 24 hours travel time. And Air Canada flies from Trinidad & Tobago, also not too far from here.
But I can’t go about reserving transportation until I have a confirmed haul out date from the yard; and I’m still waiting on them to get back to me.
Afternoon
I got confirmation for the haul-out date so could book the flights, or at least some of them. The options presented by the aggregator sites were ludicrous – Carriacou, Union Island, Trinidad, Canada, Italy then Germany and 4 days of travel in total. at only US$6000 in coach. I’ve now got the first two segments locked in – from Carriacou to Grenada and from there to London Gatwick. I’m still trying to minimize travel time for the final segment to Germany and then the final 3-hour train drive. My location is equally inconvenient to Frankfurt, Nürnberg and Munich airports so I have several choices.
Evening
The work week has begun well with my return trip finalized. I joined Mark and Marjorie for some Edamame and Pork stew at sundown and returned to Zanshin afterwards. The winds are down and my sleep was deep and uninterrupted.